3 comments:

F.G. -- Thanks for the clarification. This means I would have to rethink my initial assertion about Joyce's 'adherence to the iambic measure' (as perhaps, instead, he intends his lines merely as eight monosyllables, without concern for the metrical pattern of those syllables). I would also, then, revise my comment about the 'rhythm [in rare moments] feeling forced, as in line 10 from sonnet XII' (since, again, it seems a regular metre was not Joyce's goal). The one-time occurrence of the six-syllable line (l. 11 in XXXII) is still noteworthy, though, since every other line contains eight.

Yep, you can take for granted with Joyce's work that there's nothing done without consideration - even if it's the admission of a little chaos. There's an excellent (if demanding in its use of modern philosophy) piece by David Lloyd on 'Rome's Wreck' in the Shearsman collection of essays on Joyce (edited by Niamh O'Mahony).